Chapter 45: Division

“Alright, here’s my first request. You’re all going to remove your user registration from your Magic Pouches. If anyone refuses, I’ll roast your jewels again immediately—don’t forget that.”

Ignoring their groans, I removed their gags and dabbed some of their dripping blood onto each Magic Pouch, then held it to their mouths.

Silent.

“Hmmm. Seems you still don’t understand that staying silent earns punishment.”

I put the gags back on and placed a Flame on their crotches, then moved on to the next guy.
Behind me, the obscene sight—and the frantic grinding of hips—was impossible to ignore.

If I put mana into the flames, they’d burn until death, so these were ordinary Flames.
But even a minute of exposure guaranteed severe burns.

“Well? Do you also want to become permanently unusable?”

When I asked gently, he shook his head desperately, so I brought the blood-marked Magic Pouch to his mouth.
He glared hatefully but mouthed something.

When I stuck my hand into the pouch, random items came to mind.
I placed it on his stomach.

Once one of them obeyed, the others reluctantly followed.
Then I approached the first man.

“So, will you keep going? Or will you remove your registration?”

“I’ll remove it! Fine, I’ll remove it—you bastard!”

When all registrations were removed, it was time to check the loot—starting with Burnt-Balls Man.

I pulled out a robe, laid it in front of him, then turned the Magic Pouch upside down and dumped everything.

As expected, miscellaneous junk came out—but multiple Magic Pouches were the real problem.
Since they were deregistered, I stuck my hand into one.

The images that came to mind: several coin purses, multiple knives, assorted jewelry.
Far too nice for the owner.
Some pieces were expensive, others were trinkets a town innkeeper’s wife might wear.

The next Magic Pouch contained weapons—cuirasses, gauntlets, round shields—clear evidence of guilt.

“You seem to have been making good money, so why attack a party that didn’t look profitable?”

“Blowing off steam. Anyone would’ve done.”

Absolute scum.

The other four had similar contents—no room for mercy.
I separated the coin purses, one Rank 1 Magic Pouch, and one Rank 2 Magic Pouch.
Everything else went back into the original pouches.

Their groaning was annoying, so I gagged them again.
Then I called the six adventurers who had been watching.

“These guys’ Magic Pouches contain random swords, knives, and jewelry.”

“…So they’re thieves, huh?”

“You heard what they said. You were attacked as their ‘stress relief.’”

“We heard it… Never thought we’d get attacked for something like that.”

“I thought I was going to die.”

“What are you going to do with them?”

“Well, I heard that turning in bandits to the guards earns two gold coins per person.
But you’ll be interrogated for a long time, and the reward only comes after they’re found guilty.”

“We were told that when we registered as adventurers.”

“The adventurers who trained me said rewards take six months to a year after the guilty verdict.”

“That long!?”

“And before that, you must prove they’re thieves. The guards can check the Magic Pouches, so that part is easy.”

“But what about the days we lose being interrogated? We can’t earn anything.”

“You think the guards or guild will compensate you?”

“No chance.”

“We’d starve.”

“That’s not the only problem. Here’s the important one.”

“Important? What is it?”

“Scum like these always have other connections—partners or networks.”

“That’s true.”

“And that means…?”

“I don’t want the bounty. If you want to turn them in under your names, I’ll hand them over.”

My words confused them—they didn’t know how to respond.

“If you turn them in under your names, you might become targets for their associates.”

“We can’t have that.”

“I’d never sleep peacefully again.”

“I figured. Do you have Magic Pouches?”

“We have one Rank 1 pouch we bought together.”

I moved the stolen items into the disposable pouches, then handed them five Rank 1 pouches, one Rank 2 pouch, and all the coin purses.

“This Rank 2 one—use it together. Each of you can carry a Rank 1. And whatever’s in the coin purses—consider it compensation.”

“If we accept this, we’re the thieves!”

“I don’t want to get arrested!”

“Same here!”

“This isn’t stolen. I’m giving it to you, and there’s no registration on these pouches.
If you accept, move the coins into herb bags. Anything else is dangerous to keep—so I’ll dump it deep in the forest.”

“What, you’re not taking all this yourself?”

“I earn plenty elsewhere. I don’t need this. I’ll drag these guys into the woods, strip them, dump their stuff, and leave them. Decide now. If you refuse, we part ways.”

They huddled together.
Decision was quick—one guy’s whisper sealed it:

“Look at how fat those coin purses are! And free Magic Pouches!”

When the coins were dumped onto their herb bags, disappointed groans rose.

The swollen purses mostly contained iron and copper coins.
Gold and silver in huge amounts was a fantasy.
Reality is always small change.

Even so, they found a pouch and a half of silver coins, and around 30 gold coins—cheers erupted.

My detection skill picked up another adventurer party nearby.
I silenced them and moved everyone into the bushes.

While they obeyed, staying low, I shoved Water Balls into each tied-up bandit’s mouth.
Once they were dead, I tossed them into my Magic Bag and cleaned up the scene—evidence erased.

They quietly discussed how to spend their newfound wealth, but…

With that much money, they’d probably die within three days if left alone.
They might even blab about me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Is this area good for earning?”

“There are lots of herbs in the forest and hardly any big monsters. We come here often.
Never thought other adventurers would attack us here.”

So the bandits were drifters…

“Well, now you’ll all be keeping me company tonight. No drinking or visiting brothels.”

“Hey now, we’re grateful alright, but that doesn’t mean you can boss us around.”

“Yeah. We almost died. We need drinks to calm down!”

“Quiet, please. There are other parties nearby.”

At my words, they realized it would be bad if anyone else saw the treasure, and immediately shut their mouths.

“What about the others?”

“Is there some problem?”

“You don’t want to die, do you?”

“I get that you’re strong, but are you trying to threaten us?”

“What are you going to do? Just obey this guy? I’m not having that.”

“If we’re camping here tonight, then let’s split the money right here.”

“Yeah, we’ll take our fair share.”

The other four said nothing, but they clearly weren’t planning to side with the two loud ones.

“It’s better if you divide the money. If you start arguing and other adventurers find out, nothing good will come of it.”

“We’ll do that. You two okay with it?”

“Yeah. We want our full share.”

“With this, we can finally say goodbye to being a broke party.”

Saying that, one of them shamelessly reached for the Rank 2 magic pouch.
I stepped on his hand and quietly explained.

“I gave you the Rank 2 pouch because I expected all of you to use it. If you get too greedy…”

“I know, I know! It was just a mistake!”

“Hurry up and split it already!”

They sat in a circle, staring at the piles of coins being divided. Two of them were practically drooling, while the remaining four watched with cool but cautious eyes.

Money really brings out people’s true nature.

Each got six gold coins, and the missing amounts were made up with silver.
I wasn’t interested in the distribution, so I kept watch around us.
Seeing greenbirds flying overhead, I guessed few people hunted them around here.

“I’m leaving the group.”

“Same here. And don’t act all high and mighty if we see you at the guild.”

Quite a farewell speech, isn’t it?

“Did I do something wrong…?”

“No, they’ve always been like that. I figured we’d split eventually. Sorry for the late introduction—I’m Steve, the one who keeps the group together. This is Gale, Rings, and Kyle.”

The three bowed their heads.

“You saved our lives, and on top of that, you helped us separate cleanly from them.”

“We forgot to thank you earlier—thank you very much.”

“But… why are we camping out here tonight?”

“The meaning has changed a bit, but I’ll explain the reason tonight. Until then, you’ll accompany me on my hunt.”

Once the two who left were out of detection range, I turned my back to the capital and headed deeper into the forest.

A greenbird flew overhead—Whirlwind!
It dropped. I twisted its neck and tossed it into the magic bag.
Drawn by the chirping of chikki-chikki birds, I wandered around—Whirlwind!

The four following behind me were stunned.

“This is my first time seeing wind magic…”

“Same. I heard it was a useless magic, but it earns more than some attack spells.”

“I wish I could use magic…”

“Quiet. Looks like a group of Carrion. Don’t move.”

The four instantly froze. As expected of adventurers— but no talking.